The Hunt
by StarCrusader
Summary: When Natsu, Lucy and Happy go on a job to defeat an evil wizard, what happens when Natsu is put under a spell and forced to hunt Lucy? Can she save him before time's up, or will she die trying?


Natsu, Lucy and Happy walked through the forest, searching for their opponent, Demitri. It was already dark out, and was about 9:00. The cool breeze made Lucy feel chilly, but she tried to ignore it the best she could, rubbing at the goosebumps on her arms.

"Nee, Lucy, are you cold?" Happy asked, landing on her head. This made Natsu peer at her from the corner of his eye.

"Eh? No, I'm fine. I just wish we could find this guy quickly so we can go back to our warm hotel." Lucy said, the thought of the cozy bed making her feel a little bit better.

Without a word, Natsu took off his scarf and wrapped it around Lucy's shoulders.

"Eh? Natsu, I said that I'll be oka-"

"Don't worry about it, Luce. I don't want to be responsible for when you get a cold." Natsu smiled warmly at her, and for a moment, she felt like she was on fire.

"T-thanks, Natsu." Lucy smiled and enjoyed the warmth the scarf brought her. I smelled like charcoal, which comforted her.

"He liiiiiiiikes yooooouuuu~!" Happy said, smirking.

"Shut up, Happy." Natsu said. Lucy wasn't sure, but she thought she could see him blushing. It was probably just her imagination, right?

The three continued on in silence, listening to the crickets chirp, allowing the moon be their light. Every now and then, Lucy would catch a firefly, giggling as it flew away from her delicate fingertips. She went after another, but ran into Natsu's back with a startled yelp.

"N-Natsu? What..." But Lucy didn't finish. Something was off, and she noticed that the crickets had stopped chirping. Everything was quiet... _Too quiet._

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" A shadow separated itself from the darkness and stepped into the moonlight. There stood a man with long blonde hair and cold blue eyes. _Why does he look so familiar...?_ Lucy asked herself, staring into the man's eyes.

"Finally, I was starting to get bored." Natsu said, his fists engulfing in flames.

"Natsu, no!" Lucy screamed, but it was too late. Her pink-haired partner ran towards their opponent, eyes blazing. If only he knew who that guy was...

Yawning, the man easily sidestepped Natsu's attack, grabbed his arm, and threw him into a nearby tree.

"Natsu!" Happy flew over to him, trying to get him up.

"You." The man appeared in front of Lucy so quickly, she yelped, startled. "What's wrong? Don't you want to fight me, too?" He lifted up her chin so she was staring into his icy blue eyes.

"Get off of her!" Natsu ran towards him again, but the man grabbed Lucy by the waist and spun her around so she was a shield. "Ah!" Natsu gasped, barely missing the blonde mage.

"N-Natsu!" Lucy cried as he hit _another_ tree. "I know who you are." Lucy said, breaking free from Demitri's grip. She stared him in the eyes, pulling out a single key.

"Oh?" The man smirked, revealing sharp teeth. "Do tell."

"You're Demitri of the Dark Shadow Guild. You're wanted for killing innocent people. I remember reading about you in the paper about a year ago."

"Hmm." Demitri's eyes seemed to stun Lucy, and she was unable to move. His cold smirk told her that she was correct, but there was something wrong. Had she forgotten about something?

"Luce! Get away from him!" Natsu yelled, charging at Demitri again.

"Ignorant brat..." Demitri mumbled, dodging the attack again. Natsu was fully engulfed in flames, and his onyx eyes were hardened with hatred. "So, do you know what magic I use?" This was towards Lucy, who was still in the same spot.

"Magic?" Lucy asked dumbly, not knowing how to answer.

"I guess not. I use _True Form_ magic."

"True Form magic?" Lucy asked, trying to think about what that was.

"Let me give you an example." Demitri turned towards Natsu, who was still covered in fire. "Your friend here is a dragon slayer, yes?"

"H-how did you..." Lucy trailed off, surprised.

"It's quite obvious. The way he sniffs around like a _mutt._ "

"Who're you callin a mutt, you _long-haired freak_!" Natsu went to punch Demitri, but was unlucky in doing so. He was easily dodged again, and sent into another tree.

"Now, now. Don't hurt yourself too much. I need you for an example." Demitri began to mutter a spell under his breath, and Natsu screeched out in pain.

"N-Natsu!" Lucy shrieked, running over to her partner, who was still howling in pain. He was clutching at his heart, as if something had it in its grasp.

"I wouldn't get too close to him, my dear. He won't be the same Natsu you know. He'll become _a dragon in human form._ "

Lucy gasped, staring at Natsu as scales began to appear on his hands and arms.

"You'll have 2 hours to try to save him. If you don't, then he'll stay like this forever. He'll kill until he's dead." Demitri cackled and disappeared into the shadows.

"N-Natsu, snap out of it!" Happy cried, tears falling from his face. Without saying anything, Lucy grabbed the blue Exceed and began to run away. If her calculations were correct, she had _3... 2... 1._

" _Luuuuucyyyyyy!_ " Natsu yelled after her. He had already changed, which meant that he would probably come after Lucy and Happy first.

"Lucy, what're we going to do...?" Happy asked as Lucy kept running away from her once-friendly partner.

"I... I don't know..." Lucy trailed off, beginning to climb up a tree. Happy clung to her like his life depended on it. He had never seen Natsu like this, and it frightened him.

Lucy held Happy tightly as they sat on a branch. It was way too quiet, which scared Lucy. Natsu wasn't himself anymore, and she didn't know how to save him.

"Luuuucyyyy~!" Natsu whispered in her ear, making her shriek out in surprise. "I can always find you, Lucy. Your _disgusting smell_ lets me know where you are at all times." Lucy felt her heart break slightly, then shatter.

"Happy!" Lucy yelled, jumping from the tree just in time for Natsu's claw to miss her.

"Aye, sir!" Happy extended his wings, catching Lucy before she could hit the ground. They flew deeper into the forest, away from a cursing Natsu.

...

Lucy and Happy sat in a large oak tree, talking about what they should do. It's already been about an hour, which meant that half of their time was up.

"What if we slap him with a fish?" Happy suggested. Lucy smiled at her friend, but she knew that his suggestion was only half-hearted.

"If only it wee that easy." Lucy said, feeling her heart cry out in sadness. She felt completely helpless.

" _Luuuuucyyyy~!_ " Natsu called for her, stopping at the base of the tree they were in.

"Shit." Lucy said. "Happy, go hide."

"Eh? B-but Lucy..." He was crying again.

"Go back to the guild, quickly! I'll keep him at bay. Tell everyone what's happening."

"I don't want to leave you."

"Happy, _go!_ " Lucy knew she sounded harsh, but she had to, in order to get him out of danger.

"Mm." Happy nodded, hesitantly flying away.

"Okay, Natsu. You win. I'm coming down." Lucy began to lower herself from the tree.

"Hehehe I knew I'd win, Lucy. Don't worry, I won't kill you right away. I'll play with you first. Then _eat_ you!" Lucy shivered, but kept climbing down.

She landed on the ground, right in front of Natsu. He was covered in scales, and his eyes were little slits. He had claws for hands, and they were long and sharp. She couldn't help the gasp that escaped from her lips as she stared at him.

"Heh, what's wrong, Lucy? Don't like what you see? I'm a monster, aren't I? An _ugly monster._ " Natsu pushed Lucy so hard, she hit a tree, feeling something inside of her crack. "I knew that you'd reject me like this." With that, he threw her into another tree. Lucy's breathing was ragged, and her ribs hurt.

"Now that I'm a dragon, though, it doesn't matter what you think." Natsu flung her into another tree. "Why not call out one of your Spirits, huh?" Natsu smirked, revealing his sharp teeth.

"Because, I don't... want to fight... you..." Lucy gasped out, blood trickling from her mouth.

"Eh? Then that makes it easier for me!" Natsu smiled, lifting Lucy up by her neck, then repeatedly slammed her into the ground. Lucy couldn't even scream, all she could do was take the damage.

"Nee, Natsu. Remember the time you asked me to meet you under the Sakura tree?" Lucy asked as she lay on the ground, trying to control her breath.

"What about it?" He seemed amused that she was trying to talk to him in this situation.

"Remember that I was acting weird? Every time.. you touched me, I'd blush... Do you know why?" Lucy was out of options, but she figured that this was better than nothing.

"So what?" Natsu asked, trying to see where this conversation was going.

Lucy shakily began to stand up, ignoring the pain in her ribcage. This seemed to surprise Natsu, but he stayed in his spot, not moving. Lucy slowly began to make her way over to him, stumbling over her feet. "It was that day that I realized something important. That was the day that I realized that I... that I _love_ you, natsu..." Lucy never thought that _she'd_ be the one to confess, but she was entirely out of options.

"W-what?" Natsu asked, surprised. Lucy noticed that something flickered in his eyes. Something _warm._

"I love you, Natsu." Lucy was right in front of him now, staring into his eyes.

"Hah, stupid girl. Did you really think that -" Lucy cut him off by kissing him. His lips were scaly and hard, but she wanted to get through to him that she meant what she said.

Sharp claws dug into her arms, but Lucy didn't care. If this was how she was going to die, then so be it. However, the unexpected happened next. The claws vanished, replaced by warm hands. His lips became warm and soft, and they pressed against hers Lucy pulled away, Natsu, the _real_ Natsu, was standing before her, eyes soft and warm.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried, flinging her arms around his neck

"LUCY!" squealed a high-pitched voice.

Lucy turned in time to see Happy flying towards them at incredible speed.

"H-Happy?" Lucy asked, her eyes widening when a furry fist connected with Natsu's face.

Natsu just stood there, unaffected by the little cat's fury. Then, Lucy doubled over, falling to the ground. Some of her ribs were probably broken, and more blood came out of her mouth when she coughed.

"L-Luce!" Natsu bent down by Lucy, who was covered in her own blood. Her arms were bloody from Natsu's claws.

"Natsu! Lucy! Where are you?!" Erza called from nearby.

"Erza! Over here!" Natsu screamed, his warm hand entangled with Lucy's cold one.

"Natsu! What happened?" Erza bent down by the blonde.

"It's my fault." Natsu said, tears brimming in his eyes. "I'm a monster.."

Unable to speak, Lucy lightly touched his face and smiled, as if to say it was okay, and that he wasn't a monster. And with that, everything went black for Lucy.

...

Lucy sat on her bed. It had been two weeks since the incident with Demitri happened. Luckily, Erza found him and beat him senseless. Next to Lucy was Natsu, who had fallen asleep. She leaned over, kissing him on the forehead. That mission, as horrifying as it was, was probably one of the best ones she had ever been on. Afterall, she now had Natsu. And that was all she needed.

 _ **(A/N)**_

 _ **Hi there! Thanks for reading this story. I really appreciate it! Leave a review, even if it's just to say hi! I like reading what you guys say about my stories! Sorry this one was kind of short. And it was a little pathetic, too. Not my best, and I am deeply sorry for that.**_

 _ **Have a great day!**_

 _ **~StarCrusader~**_


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